CHANGELOG

Email:

• Nokia Email client and Mail for Exchange (MfE) preloaded (User will install and configure email clients with the help of Settings Wizard)
• Settings Wizard 5.0: offers improvements for Nokia Email and MfE setup
• Active Standby Email Plug-in: showing new email messages on Active Standby screen

Look & Feel:

• Support for Audio Themes: configurable sounds for various events e.g. opening/closing slide, battery low etc
• Setting to allow a slideshow to be used as wallpaper
• Slide handling: Setting to allow user to configure effect opening/closing the slide has on a call and keylock

Others:

• WiFi Protected Setup is now supported, allowing simplified setup of WLAN security with a supported WLAN access point
• Support of IAD (Independent Application Delivery): Allows certain applications to be updated independently over the air.

IMPROVEMENTS

• Correction for occasional CMLA (Content Management License Administrator) certificate corruption. (These certificates are needed for e.g. Mobile TV and N-Gage license purchases)
• Energy management
• Shorter lights/screen timeout when lockswitch activated. Backlight dims as soon as keylock is enabled.
• Media Keys surrounding the rocker key lit only if a media application is open
• Right Softkey changed from “Hide” to “Exit” for Music Player for EM savings

Photos/Camera/Imaging:

• A number of improvements made to the Camera image quality
• The device SW version information is now stored in the image MetaData
• Default recording quality for video is changed from ‘TV normal’ to TV high’
• Noise reduction of recorded videos

Media/DRM:

• New version of Music player: Performance and “Comes With Music”-related improvements
• FlashLite update for improved YouTube compatibility – improvements in rendering of Flash Video
• General Media player &streaming related usability & performance improvements
• OMA DRM v2 content can use device clock if no secure clock (i.e. NITZ) is available

Browser:

• Empty bookmark folders removed from Browser bookmarks (i.e. the “Download…” folders)
• Link to Ovi.mobi is included in Browser bookmarks

Others:

• Vibra enabled when charging
• When gaming in landscape mode, stereo audio will be played through correct speakers
• Updated Themes
• Slide triggered keyguard activation: When closing the slide, pressing any key within 2 seconds will result in keylock not being activated
• Several error corrections based on Care and operator feedback
• Several application baseline updates

Following are the features that make N96 multimedia experience different from others:

• 2.8” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD TFT display with up to 16 million colors
• Integrated kickstand and landscape-oriented speakers
• 16 GB memory
• DVB-H capable

Other features like 5 MP Af Camera with dual LED Flash and N-Gage give it an edge over the likes of the 5800 Xpressmusic which on account of having a brilliant screen just misses the punch. Thus, I rate N96 as one of the best multimedia device till date with a few crashes and a sloppy battery back up, which is by far are the 2 limiting factor in most present Nseries convergence devices by Nokia.

With the N96, you have a big screen and huge memory at your disposal to store your favourite tracks and videos. If you feel its getting filled up, well then you do have an option for a microSD card too (improvement over N95 8GB). The integrated kickstand comes really hand not only when watching videos but also if you want to keep your device on your office desk with clock screensaver enabled.

Camera (Picture & Video)

With the hefty price tag, you expect the device to completely replace your digital camera, but that is not the case here. In N82 it may be but not here. Well, it has the same camera as the later but there is definitely a little variation in the software codes and thus what we have here is just okay. It may not be as good as the N82 but its one where you would have no problems even if you forget your digital camera. The photographs taken in bright light are great and when done at night are dull.Not to mention the hard camera key.

The video recording is also on the same beat and is not at par of what a flagship device should have. Plus the reduction of the on board video editor is also a thumbs down. Certainly not for a beginner as you need a little experience with these devices to get maximum results. Check our Phontography Blog, where is have resource for some amazing tips and tricks on mobile photography. So, this is a mixed bag but dual LED for video recording is pretty cool. Will come up with the complete review on its camera picture capabilities in a later post but for now I’ll give it 3 out of  5. (P.S. We don’t have the wide screen video capture option in N96 as in the 5800.)

Music & Video Playback

The 16Gb is enough to carry around your daily dose of music. The playback quality is excellent. The gallery takes a bit time sometimes to open the music player but it was descent enough for big volumes of data. on a whole it was the same experience as with other Nokia devices. The FM radio too was okay and pretty much the usual. The dedicated music keys are very handy. When playing the video, the kickstand is something amazing. The playback is usually super and the slide media keys are helpful. These features totally rock and i give them a big thumbs up.

N-Gage

This by far is totally a whole new dimension but keeping to to the N96, well it needs a little more improvement. I had faced a lot of crashes even when I had reformatted my device and installed the latest version of N-Gage client. Thus, even after trying my best to keep things up to date I faced this problem, this made me give it a 2.5 out of 5.

Final Verdict

Insipte of having a huge screen and large memory capacity and some snazy technology, N96 is not what it is intened for. Still we have to wait for another firmware update but v12 is also promising. If you have N96, update your firmware for a better experiece as now you will actually love using it and not just be pretending to. For new aspiring readers who want to get some serious technology of their hard earned money, well this should not be on you list. Finally N96 bags a 3 out of 5 on an overall multimedia experience.

1. Build Anatomy

The Nokia N96 is a solid looking device but at the same time is amazingly light in weighing only 125g. From a front view the device looks flat. Thus this flattish looks give it a nice clean appearance which is very pleasing. The Black / Dark Grey colour of the device looks good but the silver Rim seriously needs a second thought. This puts N96 into a back seat when it comes to the First-Look-Effect. The device is based on the Dual Slider concept on the path of Nokia N95 with dedicated Media and N-Gage keys. The keys are laid in regular fashion and are pretty much the same as the N95 except for the fact that they are more flat and broad. The dual slider of the N96 gives it an extra edge when it comes to music playback. On a whole I really like the looks and design of the device which I feel is real winner when compared to its other Nseries counterparts. It feels really solid in your hand and gives a sense of pride of having the ultimate multimedia device in your pocket.

2. Slider

The Dual Slider is a big advancement as it is spring assisted. This gives it a whole lot of benefit in the form of minimum to none wobble and strong slider mechanism. This is really impressive as you can clearly notice the difference between N96 and N95. The only problem is that it has a little splay when at rest which is not annoying but still not expected from a flagship device.

3. Keypad

The flat keys have been properly laid with the amount of space present and you hardly tap the wrong key. They take a little force but on a whole the flat faced keypad is brilliant. The Menu, C and media keys can be mis-punched a few times but you get used to them quickly. The Call Receive and the End Call Button could have been made a little bigger.

4. Gaming & Media Keys

The other part of the slide exposes these keys which are made really beautifully with an intelligent lighting source that lights up these keys when needed. Thus while you listen to songs or watch a movie you see the Media keys lighted up and when you play a game, you see the A and B key lighted up. This is pretty awesome

5. Camera Key

The Camera Key is a little disappointment as it needs to be pressed a whole lot down to be able to click a picture. So you need to practice to be able to press the button first half down to get the green focus box and then full way to click the picture.

6. Keygaurd Switch

Another innovative switch is the keyguard. It is a spring assisted switch with works great and helps you lock and unlock your keypad. I still remember it first came in N91 but that was on slide concept and it didn’t work well but this one is simple super. I like these small helpful things Nokia people come up with. Kudos!

7. Kick Stand

Finally the unique part of the design and built of the device is that it has a Kickstand with the help of which you can rest the N96 making an obtuse angle with the surface to enable you to watch your media with your hands free Wish they put one in N85 too. Anyways, this may seem a not so often used thing but believe me its used more than you can think of and is really helpful. I even use it to keep my N96 on my table with the clock screensaver. It looks great

Thus with the above points about the physical aspects of Nokia N96 I conclude that it has by large the best build quality compared to any 5 MP Camera Device at present. With others in league, only E71 beats it in this aspect. Therefore I am giving it a Thumbs Up and 4/5 stars for Physical Anatomy.